Christmas 2023 – Dear Liza

De-Christmas-ing

Dear Liza,

This year’s Christmas has been, to put it gently, weird. We put up the tree and made the house pretty. Parties were lined up and concert tickets bought. Then I got sick with Covid, then Auntie Bridgett. Grandpa Nelson is still fighting the virus.

But it was still Christmas! Bridgett made the house beautiful with boxes and boxes of ornaments, bows and random wintry pretties.

And now it’s time to put them all away. I know, we usually leave things up until the New Year, but our tree is crispy-dry and may be aggravating Bridgett’s allergies. Mouse the cat is getting even nuttier than usual about the ornaments.

So to keep things simple, we’re de-Christmas-ing. Most of the pretties get wrapped up in old tissue and placed gently in boxes, which get Tetris-ed into bins which live in the garage. Some are being offered on our local “Buy Nothing” group in Facebook to make room for the new ones, sent by Bridgett’s mom or bought from local artists.

And the tree.

To get it out of the house without tracking needles over three floors, I got out the pruning shears and pared it down to the nubbins. The branches were taken down in bins and the stump will get lowered off the balcony, sawn in half, and composted. Mouse was not pleased.

I am looking forward to the New Year, but not particularly sorry to see this Christmas season pass. It’s been a bit of a stinker.

Love,

Grandma Judy

A Merry Covid Christmas

Dear Liza,

While you were off in the wilds of Norway in search of the Northern Lights, we were spending a quiet, rainy Christmas Day here in Portland. Grandpa Nelson has caught Covid and had a bad few days of sleeping and being miserable, but now seems to be on the mend.

We had a very helpful Zoom visit with a Nurse Practitioner named Ronnie, who prescribed meds, gave advice, and provided some much-needed confidence.

For Christmas Eve dinner, we had hoped for our traditional dinner of take out pizza, but Straight from New York on Belmont closed early and it was too cold to look further. Bridgett proposed pancakes, which suited me just fine. I’m pretty sure red wine and Hennessy goes with pancakes, right?

Auntie Katie picked up groceries for us, and some lovely tulips, as well. Our table was lovely.

On Christmas Day we opened presents, then had FaceTime visits with Bridgett’s family in San Diego and Auntie Katie and the Cousins just across town. They built wonderful gingerbread houses!

Our Christmas dinner was Danish meatballs, pasta and roasted veggies. Special Christmas plates from Aunt Chris, placemats from friend Julie, and Katie’s tulips made for a festive view.

Auntie Bridgett and I played Bananagrams, watched an episode of the Great British Baking Show Holiday special, and snuggled with Mouse on the couch. Then it was time to give Grandpa Nelson his medicine and head for bed.

Merry Christmas, get home safe, and we’ll chat soon.

Love,

Grandma Judy

A Good Start to the Holidays

Dear Liza,

Well, Auntie Bridgett got home from San Diego, and Christmas got a swift kick start.

First, Bridgett and I headed off to Portland Nursery to see what sort of potted trees they have that we could use as a small, year round, living tree. I was surprised at the variety of plants they had for sale, considering it has been near freezing at night.

Annie, at the front desk, gave us advice about the best tree for our shady front patio, and we chose a small yew that has a lovely Christmas tree shape and will grow slowly. Here it is on the porch as we were in the middle of arranging things.

Once we got that set up, it was time to go and fetch the BIG tree. We drove over to our regular tree lot and found Lilly, our 2023 tree. Like all our Christmas trees, she is from Molalla, just down the road.

We brought her up over the balcony and soon she was standing by the window, just waiting to get decorated.

As you can see, Mouse approves.

Love,

Grandma Judy